Can opener



1952 E. D. HALLOCK ETAL CAN OPENER Filed March 30, 1948 Patented Jan. 29, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CAN OPENER Eugene D. Hallock, Snyder, N. Y., and Paul E.

The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to can openers of the general type in which one portion of the opener engages under the bead of the can to serve as a fulcrum in forcing the cutting edge of the opener through the metal in the process of cutting out the end of the can.

An object of the invention resides in the provision of a can opener of the above type formed of a single strip of metal shaped to provide a convex cutting edge and a fulcrum spaced therefrom longitudinally of the opener, whereby the can may be cut by a leverage action in which the blade cuts in a direction away from the operator.

Another object of the invention consists in providing a can opener of the above type in which the fulcrum is closely adjacent the penetrating point of the cutting edge and the initial cutting portion of the blade so as to minimize the amount of power necessary to be applied to the handle in performing the cutting operation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of the novel can opener;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the head portion of the can opener in cutting relation to a can, and showing only a portion of the handle;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the can opener, and

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view thereof.

The can opener may be stamped-up from a blank or bar of relatively heavy-gauge sheet metal and is provided with a rather shallow cut-out portion l on one edge of the bar adjacent the cutting end thereof. Extending from the cut-out portion I is a lateral slot 2 dividing the bar into a handle portion 3 and a head portion 4 and terminating in a circular enlargement 5 which is adapted to encircle the beaded end of a can A when the cutter is in use.

The handle portion 3 of the cutter is provided on one edge with a short flange 6 forming a thumb-engaging portion, and the opposite edge is provided with an elongated flange 1 around which the fingers of the operators hands are adapted to engage. The end of the handle remote from the cutting head 4 may be apertured as indicated by the numeral 8 to permit the opener to be suspended from a hook or the like.

amended April 30, 1928; 370 Q. G, {757) The wall of the slot 2 adjacent thehandle portion .of the .cutter' is. indicated by. the numeral 9 and is adapted to serve as a fulcrum engaging against the underside of the can bead when the cutter is in use. For this purpose it is desirable, although not essential, that the edge 9 be bent or offset slightly toward the can as indicated by the numeral ID. The head portion of the cutter is preferably bent slightly to the right, that is, away from the can as indicated by numeral ll (Fig. 3) so as to closely engage the rim of the can in the cutting operation and yet provide sufficient clearance for the operators hand in moving the handle to and fro adjacent the side of the can. The cutting portion of the head 4 is convexly rounded and sharpened as indicated by the numeral [2 and joins the wall l3 of the slot 2 in forming a penetrating point I4. It should here be noted that due to the close proximity of the penetrating point [4 to the fulcrum 9 in relation to the application of power at or adjacent the rear end of the handle 3 the multiplication of power is rather high and thus the operator of the can opener need apply only slight force to the handle to cause the point I4 to penetrate the top of the can.

In the operation of the device the handle 3 extends substantially vertically in more or less parallel relation to the axis of the can being operated upon and the offset wall 9 of the slot 2 is caused to engage under the conventional bead formed on cans such as are intended to be opened by the present cutter, and the penetrating point l4 engages the top wall of the can just inside of the can bead as shown in Figure 2. The handle 3 of the opener is then drawn toward the operator as pressure is applied by his thumb on the portion 6. By this ope-ration the penetrating point [4 is forced through the metal and the continued raising of the handle toward a substantially horizontal position will cause the cutting edge [2 to produce. an arcuate slot along the edge of the top of the can and this cutting operation is greatly facilitated by reason of the fact that the fulcrum point 9 is quite close to the penetrating point [4, thereby providing a considerable multiplication of power due to the leverage action provided by the close proximity of the point 14 to the fulcrum 9 as contrasted to the remote point at which force is applied adjacent the rear end of the handle 3. This cutting operation is repeated until the top of the can is completely severed, or nearly so, as desired.

From the foregoing description and the atcan to be opened with the application of a relatively small amount of force to the handle.

We claim:

A one-piece can opener comprising a substantially fiat rigid bar of metal provided with a lat.- eral slot adjacent one end terminating in a substantially circular enlarged recess dividing the bar into a head portion and a handle portion,

said slot being inclined forwardly toward the head portion, the Wall of the slot adjacent the handle being bent laterally and adapted to serve as a fulcrum, the edge of the head portion on the slotted side of the bar being sharpened to provide: a. cutting edge terminating in a rear wardly-directed penetrating point on the other lwall of the slot, said head portion being bent to form an obtuse angle with the handle portion and the laterally-bent fulcrum, an integral thumb-engaging member on one edge of the handle, and an elongated finger-engaging flange on the opposite edge of. the handle portion. EUGENE D. HALLOCK. PAUL E. WHITTINGTON.

REFERENCES CITED,

The following references are of record in the file of" this patent:

EHQYFI'ED' STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,436,133 White Feb. 17, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 37,610 Norway Nov. 18,1921 38,624:

Norway. Dec. 17, 1923 

